


Let Me Count the Flowers

by Kellyscams



Series: Kells' Fic Fest [11]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Flowers, Fluff, Fluffy Ending, M/M, Pining, Secret Admirer, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-20 14:02:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6009925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kellyscams/pseuds/Kellyscams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Steve walks into work and finds a flower on his desk, he thinks it's a mistake. But then there's another one the next day... and the next day... and the next day...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let Me Count the Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Hello! Sorry if this is too early for Feb ficlet, but this idea is really stuck in my head.. (Bottom Skinny Steve and Top Bucky) Its Feb, Bucky sends Steve flowers of different meanings leading up to Valentines. Romantic date and dancing under the stars... Thank you :)
> 
> ((sorry for any extra typos this time around! I'm in a little bit of a rush and i really wanted to get this up before the day is over!))

The first one is a yellow Chrysanthemum. It’s just sitting on Steve’s desk when he gets to work that morning. With it is a printed note that reads **secret admirer**. Not _from_ secret admirer. Just those two words alone. Nothing more than that. 

At first, Steve thinks it must be a mistake. He’s been working as a data entry clerk in this office for about two months now. It’s just a temp job and by the end of this month he’ll be leaving. Not to mention that no one has showed the slightest bit of interest. Really, he’s not insulted or even surprised. Most people who look at his small body and thin limbs don’t exactly rush to be anything more than friends, and those who do just want a hook up. Steve is actually pretty okay with _either_ of those options, even if he does get a little lonely every now and then. 

Flower in hand, he scans the office. Maybe he’s being watched. The one who placed it on his desk either sneaking a peek at him finding it or deeply regretting the fact that they’ve placed it on the desk of skinny, little Steve Rogers instead of the person it’s really meant for. But there’s no one. And Steve just sits down with his coffee and pile of work and gets the day started. 

By the time his lunch hour rolls around, Steve completely forgets about it. Until it’s brought to his attention. 

“What’s this?”

The flower, which had ended up behind a stack of papers, is suddenly in the hands of one of Steve’s coworkers. Bucky Barnes, Mr. Stark’s personal assistant, brings it to his nose and sniffs. Steve hit it off with Bucky immediately when the head of security -- some goon of a guy called Brock -- was being nasty to some of the workers who didn’t speak English all that well. Steve told him to fuck off. Bucky, who was just coming into the breakroom at the time of Steve’s call out, heard. Steve was sure he was gonna be fired. He’d only been working there for a week and was already close to fighting with the head of security. Instead, Bucky took Steve out to lunch and got Mr. Stark to suspend Brock for a week without pay. 

“A flower,” Steve mumbles as he keys in the last bit of data before he can head out for some food. 

Bucky snickers and bops the blossom over Steve’s head. “I can see that, punk. Who’s it from?”

“Dunno.” Steve shrugs. “It was on my desk when I got it. Figured someone made a mistake or forgot it there or something.”

“Nah,” Bucky says. “Look.” He holds the tag out. “It’s from your secret admirer.”

Finished with what he was doing, Steve switches his monitor off and stands to stretch. He grabs his jacket and hat and gloves -- causes it’s unnaturally cold out -- and takes the flower back from Bucky.

“It doesn’t say that. It just _says_ secret admirer.”

Already on his phone -- not unusual since Bucky’s usually on his phone -- Bucky shakes his head. He’s typing something and then shows it to Steve. And what he shows him is a picture of the flower he got and it’s meaning. Which is secret admirer. 

“Looks like someone’s got the hots for you, Stevie,” Bucky teases with a nudge to Steve’s ribs as they get into the elevator. 

“Fuck off,” Steve mutters. 

The blush that takes his cheeks makes Bucky laugh.

***

The second one is a daffodil. Steve freezes on his way to his desk when he spots it sitting there. The pretty yellow blossom bright and cheerful among the dull and dark office supply. Now Steve’s sure someone is being a dick. They have to be.

Taking off his jacket and slinging it over the back of his chair, Steve tries to just pretend like it’s not there. Same as yesterday there’s a tag with it. But he’s not interested in what it has to say. Nope. Not Steve. And he’s certainly not going to put them in the vase at home with the other flower. There’s no reason to. 

“Oh, look!” Bucky says when he walks by an hour later. “Another one! What’s this one say?”

Steve just shrugs. 

“Ain’t you even gonna look?”

“No,” he grumbles.

“Why not?”

“Cause.” Right, that doesn’t make him sound like a total baby. He sighs. “It’s probably just someone being an asshole.”

Bucky’s eyebrows pull in as he leans against the edge of Steve’s desk. He pushes at the stem of the flower a bit, but doesn’t pick it up.

“What do you mean?” he asks. “Why would it be that?”

Steve flushes. “Why would anyone get me flowers?”

This time, Bucky chuckles and picks up the flower. He doesn't look at the tag though. He just hands it over to Steve. 

“I think yesterday’s flower explained it,” he says as he walks away.

Flower in his hand now, Steve gives into the temptation he’s been avoiding since he caught sight of the damn thing. He looks at the tag. 

This one says: **chivalry**

***

The third one is a white gladiolus and this is just getting ridiculous. Steve might not be a gardener, but he recognizes the flower and it’s not one that’s usually just found in a florist. Or… maybe it is. But it’s not in season -- this one is a summer one, he knows that -- so it’s got to be more expensive than others. This just has to be some mistake. Someone thinks this desk belongs to someone else, that’s all.

Steve picks it up to see the tag. It tells him that this one means _strength of character_. When he reads that, a small part of him really hopes that maybe there isn’t a mistake. Because that… well that is just one of the nicest things anyone could ever have to say about him. 

People make assumptions when they look at him. They see the ninety pounds of skin and bone and mistake that for weakness. They hear about the surgeries and asthma and heart problems and mistake that for too sick to do anything. What they don’t see is his passion. What they don’t hear is his voice. What they don’t know is the strength he _does_ have. 

“That’s a pretty one,” Bucky says on his way back to his desk after faxing something. “What’s it mean?”

“Um…” Steve tries to pull off an air of nonchalance. The blush probably gives him away though. “Strength of character.”

When he says that, Bucky pauses. He looks up like he’s thinking about that before smiling with a nod and continuing on his way. 

Steve blushes more. 

***

The fourth one is hydrangea, but Steve doesn’t get it until after coming back from lunch. To be honest, he was mildly… okay, _really_ disappointed to get into the office and not have something bright and colorful to start the day off. But, and he sighed with the thought, it was only a matter of time. 

“No flower?” Bucky asks when he stops by the desk with an extra cup of coffee for Steve. 

Steve just shakes his head. He doesn’t need anyone knowing he was actually a little upset over it. Not fooled -- probably not fooled -- Bucky pats his shoulder before leaving. 

When Steve comes back from lunch, he almost trips over his two feet. There on his desk, right on top of an extra large pile of work for the day, is his flower. 

This one means perseverance.

***

The fifth one is an iris. Now that it’s Friday, and a flower has been appearing every day this week, the whole office is excited to see what it means. Everyone who’s interested gathers around Steve’s desk when he first walks in. They’re kind enough not to touch it before he gets there, and he tries to take his time. First going through his normal routine of shedding his outdoor gear and taking a few sips of coffee and getting the morning paperwork set up.

This one means inspiration. 

“Appropriate,” Bucky chuckles while sitting on the edge of Steve’s desk at the end of the day. “You go to school at night and you take care of your sick mother and you volunteer at a youth center.” He twirls the flower in his hand. “I’d say that’s inspirational.”

Bucky’s the only one who knows these things about him. Here anyway. Steve’s closest other friends -- Sam and Peggy and Sharon -- know of course, but here, in the office, Bucky’s the only one Steve opened up to. Of course, it did happen to be during a Happy Hour trip to the nearest bar after work on a Friday -- like where they’ll be headed soon -- and there _may_ have been a few beers involved, but Bucky said, and continues to maintain, that Steve’s pretty spectacular for doing all that. 

“Hey, you slowpokes coming?”

That would be Darcy Lewis, the nosy and actually pretty hilarious receptionist who’s waiting for them to go to the bar. A karaoke bar tonight. Joy.

“Yeah, yeah,” Bucky mumbles. “We’re coming.”

“Steve!” Darcy shouts as they make their way to the elevators together. “You should bring the flowers in and keep them on your desk! Brighten this dull ass place up a bit.”

“I resent that.” Mr. Stark is just coming down the hall. Easy smirk on his face. “This place is _oozing_ with color.” He taps the wall. “Canary yellow. It’s supposed to be calming.” He winks at them as they pile into the elevator. “Have fun, you crazy cats.”

Darcy salutes while Bucky reminds Mr. Stark that he has a meeting tomorrow morning… in Prague. Steve smiles behind his flower. 

***

The sixth one is a jasmine flower and Steve didn’t even know what kind of flower it was, but luckily the deliverer thought to type that out as well. Thing is, it comes when Steve is in the middle of hate, hate, _hating_ his life. On Saturday morning. He groans into his pillow, cursing himself for having that last beer. 

It’s not so much the hangover -- though the headache’s sucky and his mouth is super dry and he really need to put something in his stomach. No, it’s not the hangover. He can deal with that. Pop some aspirin and drink a whole lot of water and actually get something to eat and he’ll spend the day curled up on his couch watching Star Wars or Harry Potter or The Hunger Games under a blanket. 

What he _can’t_ do anything about is the what happened last night, after Darcy convinced him to have that one last drink _Come on! One more! What’s one more gonna do?_ What did one more do? One more drink gave Steve enough liquid courage to go up and take a turn singing on stage. _Not_ that big of a deal alone and all. So he did something silly in front of coworkers. It could’ve been fine. If it was just that.

But it wasn’t just that. Steve got up on stage with _Bucky_ and they sang _Don’t Stop Believing_ , cause, why not sing Journey with the guy he totally doesn’t have a crush on? A fact, which was so kindly not pointed out by Steve’s own brain, but Darcy’s powerful skills of observation. 

Not that Steve has a _chance_ with a knockout like Bucky. With those bright, piercing eyes and disarming smile. Those silky bangs that sweep across his brow and the _arms_ that Steve could do curls on. If Steve could manage to actually _do_ curls. Not to mention the guy is ridiculously smart and sweet and funny and is pretty much the object of affection for every young lady in the entire office. 

Steve is still in the middle of cursing his very existence into his pillows when there’s a knock on the door. He huffs, but gets up to answer it anyway. And is pretty shocked as hell to find no one out there, and, instead, a flower taped to the door. Steve attempts to dart down the hall to see if he can find the person who left it there, but the headache and stomach ache and general feeling of achiness keeps him from getting very far. So he just peels the flower off the door and sets it into the vase with the rest of them.

He smiles as the jasmine one. 

Grace and elegance. 

***

The seventh one, also delivered by a knock at the door and tape, is an orchid, and Steve is wildly relieved that he’s not in the office for this one. It means delicate beauty. If delicate beauty means grinning like a fool and blushing all the way to the tips of his ears, then sure. 

He decides to take the vase full of blossoms into the office with him the next day.

***

The eighth one is a yellow rose. Once again, people are gathered around his desk when he walks in. Darcy gives him enthusiastic thumbs’ up when she sees him coming in with the vase. He tries to roll his eyes but can only smile. 

“You’re the most popular guy here,” Bucky says when Steve gets to his desk. “What’s a guy gotta do to get this attention?”

“Apparently get a secret admirer,” Steve murmurs as he attempts not to pick up the rose with too much excitement.

“Friendship.” Bucky smirks when Steve looks up from the tag. 

“How… how’d you…”

He shrugs. “I knew that one.”

Steve can only stare at him for a second. Last time he saw him, they were both kinda drunk and singing horribly in a bar full of people. Bucky had swung an arm over his shoulder and Steve remembers hugging him around the waist. And smiling like an idiot. And… sitting on his lap. Bury him. In a hole and cover it with concrete. 

Although, Bucky doesn’t seem put off by anything they did. In fact, he flashes Steve a smile and tells him he’ll see him for lunch. And the day goes on as normal.

Well, except for the fact that Steve now knows he’s got this huge crush on his coworker.

Great, Rogers. Just great.

***

The ninth one is another rose. A pink one. It means appreciation. 

The tenth one is a sweatpea and that one means shyness and it might be one of Steve’s favorites. Whoever is sending them must be shy which is funny cause Steve is kinda shy himself. Kinda. Sometimes. Apparently not when he’s at Happy Hour with his coworkers. Then he’ll get up and sing karaoke with the guy he’s got a major crush on. 

The eleventh one is a violet. That one means faithfulness and something inside of Steve feels warm and cozy. Until he sees Bucky flirting with Kate from billing. 

The twelfth one is a pink tulip which means caring. _Somehow_ Darcy manages to convince Steve to join them for Happy Hour again, even if that means lugging the vase full of flowers with him. Bucky laughs as all the blossoms sweep across Steve’s face and make him sneeze. He’s careful not to have that extra drink this time. Even with Darcy poking at him and telling him that he should _give it a shot with Barnes_. Steve is able to keep things only mildly embarrassing and tell Bucky that he’s got the prettiest eyes he’s ever seen. 

Yep. That’s how Happy Hour goes. 

The thirteenth one is a lily. More specifically a _day_ lily. 

Steve spent the whole morning hoping that he could catch the deliverer. Only his secret admirer seems to have gotten even more clever since it’s actually delivered by a service. He tries to get some info from the guy -- who’s wearing a purple shirt with coffee stains on it, how professional -- but all he gets is a shrug. 

“Sorry, dude,” the guy says. “Privacy is a thing.” He walks away then and Steve sees him trip over nothing and spill more coffee. “Aw, coffee!”

Sighing, he shuts the door and plops on the couch. The vase is now on his coffee table and he slips the lily in with the rest. The first one -- yellow Chrysanthemum -- is just starting to wilt. It makes Steve a little sad. 

He gets a text from Darcy that evening, asking for a pic of the new one. Steve shakes his head with a laugh and sends it.

***

The only Valentine Steve _hopes_ to have is a date with that delivery guy again. Well, not _him_ but the flower he brings. Only by four o’clock in the afternoon… no flower. 

Steve tries not to let it get to him. It’s a Sunday after all _and_ Valentines Day. He couldn’t expect it to go on forever. Darcy has been texting him every hour on the hour. The last one was accompanied with a little frowny face and the promise that she’ll leave him alone if he wants. Steve doesn’t ask her to. It’s the best company he has right now since Sam is out with his girlfriend, Maria, and Peggy is with her girlfriend, Angie, and Sharon offered to come over, but Steve told her to go out with a few friends who aren’t bummed today. 

It’s silly to be so down and out. Steve knows it. But he feels so let down and he’d been hoping for _some_ little thing today.

The knock at the door comes just at five thirty. Steve stares at it, eyes wide and heart pounding. He can dare to hope, but he also hopes that his hope isn’t crushed by horrible disappointment. It isn’t.

Instead, it’s overwhelmed by a sea of red and yellow blossoms. There are so many flowers it looks like the florist might be out of stock from all of these. There are so many flowers Steve can’t even _see_ the delivery guy this time. 

“Oh… um…” Steve is at a bit of a loss. He’s not sure how to take all of these. “Okay, I’ll, um… here…”

Steve takes one of the huge bouquets and places it gently on the couch and then hurries back. He takes the next one. And does a double take when he finally catches a glimpse of the one delivering all these. Because it’s _not_ the same guy as yesterday. 

It’s Bucky.

And the second Steve and him lock eyes, his entire face turns just as red as the flowers he’s holding. 

“Bucky?” Steve exclaims. “What’re _you_ doing here?”

“Oh… I…” Bucky clears his throat. “I… had one last… delivery to make.”

“One last…” Last? Steve looks back at his vase and the bouquet on the couch and his hands and the rest that Bucky’s holding. “Y-you? Have _you_ been sending these?”

“I…” He blushes again. “Well, I wanted… I didn’t know how else to ask you out. I was… nervous.”

Nervous? Bucky fucking Barnes who could have anyone he wants and he was nervous to ask _him_ out? Scratch that. He _wants_ to ask Steve out?

“Wait… you wanna ask me out?”

“Well… _yeah_! I mean, like, I get if you’d rather not cause office romance and all that, but you’re gonna be leaving in two weeks and I just figured that it’d be kinda cool and I didn’t never wanna see you again and I know I could’ve just asked for you number and all…”

Bucky goes on to ramble like that for a least a full minute and Steve’s not sure if he should laugh or not because Bucky really _is_ nervous and Steve’s never seen anything so adorable in his life. 

“I’m sorry,” Bucky says. “I’m rambling. I do that when I get nervous. Love, by the way.” He raises the dozens and dozens of flowers he’s holding and fumbles with one of the bouquets, just managing to keep it from falling. “They all, uh, mean different kinds of love.” Bucky’s eyes go wide. “Not that I… not that I’m saying I’m _in_ love with you cause that’d be super forward, but I think maybe I could fall in love with you.” His mouth stops moving but stays open before he sighs and shakes his head. “I’m sorry. Again. I’m gonna start over.” He looks at Steve. “Hi. I’m Bucky. I’m the idiot who’s been sending you flowers everyday for two weeks. You wanna go to dinner with me?” 

Steve can’t help it. He does laugh this time. Bucky Barnes is here with more flowers than he can barely carry and he’s asking Steve out on a date. For Valentine's Day. 

“Yeah.” Steve nods. “Yeah, uh…” He looks back into his apartment. There are sketchpads tossed on the coffee table and dishes in the sink and socks on the floor. Damn it. “It’s a mess, kinda, but come on in.” 

He takes some of the flowers from him so that Bucky isn’t burden with them anymore. When he does, Steve sees that Bucky’s actually dressed pretty nice. Bucky tells him he actually made reservations at the encouragement of his best friends -- Nat and Clint, Clint being the clumsy delivery guy from yesterday. 

Dinner, as it turns out, is at the Museum of Natural History. A special Valentine’s Day event. Bucky assures him that he did _not_ pull it off on his own. 

“Mr. Stark,” he explains. “Gets invitations to these things all the time. He lets some of his employees use them. So… I figured I’d get us a table. And then… hope like hell that you’d say yes.” 

They dine in the planetarium. Under the stars. Where Bucky convinces Steve to take a stroll across the dance floor despite Steve’s insistence that he’ll step on his feet. 

Steve does, in fact, step on Bucky’s feet. Bucky just laughs and tells him he doesn’t care. To be honest, when Bucky leans in and kisses him, Steve doesn’t either. 

Those flowers back in his apartment that all mean love? Steve’s pretty sure they’re not that far off. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! This was a part of Kells' Februrary Ficlet Fest
> 
> The February Ficlet Fest are all ficlets that are based upon prompts sent to my tumblr at [thebestpersonherelovesbucky](http://thebestpersonherelovesbucky.tumblr.com/). Prompts can be nsfw, fluffy, feels, angst, canon, au etc.– the theme is yours for the choosing! 
> 
> If you want something specific ((like who tops or bottoms or prewar//post-ws etc.)) just let me know. Otherwise I’ll take it upon myself to decide and assume you’ve given me that trust and permission to do so
> 
> I work with pretty much all kinks save for underage, rape play, htp, blood play and maybe a few others that I just can’t think of ((cause they’re just not my thing, is all))
> 
> Poly works for me! The more the merrier! So if you’d like to bring Tony or Sam or Thor or Peggy or Nat or any of our other heroes in for the fun that’s good by me!


End file.
